By Stephanie French
November 25th, 2009
In part one of this blog I mentioned ways to work with your printer to save costs. Now, I’m going to address ways you can plan ahead on projects to ensure you’re producing pieces in the most cost-effective way.
Be flexible with paper choices. Most printers carry “house” stocks that they purchase in large volumes and keep in stock. By using house papers instead of specifying stocks you can save considerable money. For example, on letterhead you might usually spec Classic Crest but your printer might have a house uncoated text that looks the same—the savings can be substantial based on quantity.
Use conventional sizes. 8.5×11 or 9×12 are the most cost-effective sizes for brochures and folders. Unique sizes may seem fun and interesting, but sometimes they don’t fit on parent sheets, which increases costs.
Group pieces together. Take advantage of opportunities to “gang run” items of the same stock and color. It’s an excellent way to save paper and money.
Smaller quantities? Go digital. Digital printing has come a long way. There are many paper options now that weren’t available a few years ago and, quality has improved dramatically. Digital isn’t great for larger quantities—anything over 1000 pieces—but for small jobs it’s a cost-effective fit!
Do you have tips or money-saving print ideas you can offer?
By Stephanie French
September 29th, 2009
Corporate holiday gifting is always difficult. It’s a fine balance between personal and professional. Yes, you might have conversations about Jane’s love of martinis, but gifting a flask with your company logo is probably a bad idea. Here are some tips to help you this year.
It’s not all about you! Remember, you want them to enjoy this gift. Avoid giving standard promo items like pens, shirts with your logo or anything for an iPhone. Here’s a rule—if you’d give it away at a tradeshow it’s probably not a good holiday gift.
Think family. A gift your client can share with their family is a great idea. Games, cool toys, tickets to the movies, museums or zoo make excellent gifts and can be easily given in a pinch.
If all else fails, go with food! You can’t go wrong with good food. Pick a local favorite. Giving something unique to your region is great and supports local businesses. Some of my favorites in Ariz. are Urban Cookies and Fairytale Brownies. Plan ahead for these items—custom goodies take time to produce but are well worth the effort.
Most importantly, consider the recipient. Show them you care and that you know and value them as a client or vendor.
Have you given or received any unique corporate holiday gifts? Do you have any gift ideas?
By Stephanie French
August 28th, 2009
Part One of Two: Working with your Printer
Times are tight, we have to spend smarter. I’d love to say I have great investment advice to give, but it’s best to stick with what I know—printing and paper.
In my 12+ years of print purchasing, I’ve picked up a few tips that I’d like to share to help you save some money on your printing projects.
- Get your printer involved from the beginning. Your printer can make some excellent recommendations to help reduce costs, just ask. Sometimes, something as simple as reducing the size of your piece by a half-inch can lead to significant cost savings.
- When your project requires mailing, have your print rep work backwards to advise you on how to layout your piece to meet USPS standards for the best postage rate classification available. In some cases, this could amount to hundreds of dollars in postage savings.
- Allow at least 48-72 hours for estimating. This will give your printer more time to find the most cost-effective way to print your project.
Do you have any tips to share about working with a printer?
By Stephanie French
July 15th, 2009
I consider myself fortunate that my job allows me to feed my obsession with paper. Recently, my attention has turned to tree-free paper options—as they are becoming more affordable and honestly, more interesting. It seems the days of high-priced, tree-free papers are fading fast, as more companies are creating unique alternatives to wood fiber paper.
Some common and more popular sources of tree-free paper are kenaf, bamboo, jute and bagasse (sugar cane). These options are so common in fact, that there are crops grown specifically for the purpose of making paper (a great resource I’ve found for tree-free paper options is www.conservatree.com). While these are great options for making tree-free paper, my excitement really lies in some of the more unique sources for paper making.
In my opinion, elephant dung is one of the more fantastic options for making paper. I’m not sure why I find this so intriguing; it just is. The elephant’s diet is very fibrous, which makes it great for paper! A few more wonderful treeless options include abandoned birds’ nests, and my all time favorite, rocks.
My only struggle with these tree-free paper options is trying to find an appropriate way to tell a client we’d like to print their project on poop!
Photo courtesy of MrElliePoo.com
Are you printing with any unique tree-free papers? Please share some of your favorite wood fiber paper alternatives with me.
